THIS MAN, WHO CRASHED HIS VAN INTO THE BEDROOM OF A WOLFSON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT, LEARNS HIS PUNISHMENT FOR THE FATAL WRECK. IT'S A BITTERSWEET MOMENT FOR HER FAMILY. THE SENTENCING IS WHAT WE AGREED UPON. AND I GUESS IN THAT SENSE, IT SATISFIES, BUT AT THE SAME TIME IT DOES DO NOTHING TO MAKE US FEEL GOOD. JANAY JACKSON WAS 17 YEARS OLD WHEN SHE WAS KILLED AS SHE SLEPT IN HER FAMILY'S SOUTHSIDE HOME. THE PARENTS SAID TODAY IT WILL BE A LITTLE EASIER TO MOVE FORWARD NOW THAT THEY KNOW THE MAN RESPONSIBLE WILL BE LOCKED UP FOR A LONG TIME. HE WAS SENTENCED TO 12 YEARS IN PRISON FOLLOWED BY THREE YEARS OF SUPERVISED DRUG OFFENDER PROBATION AND THE JUDGE PERMANENTLY REVOKED HIS DRIVER'S LICENSE. HE ADMITTED RUNNING A STOP SIGN IN AUGUST OF LAST YEAR AND CRASHING INTO THE TEEN'S BEDROOM. KUMASI AARON WAS INSIDE THE COURTROOM AND SPOKE WITH THE JACKSON FAMILY AFTER THE JUDGE HANDED DOWN THE SENTENCE. JANAY JACKSON'S FAMILY TOLD ME THEY REALLY BELIEVE JUSTICE WAS SERVED IN THIS CASE. THEY TOLD ME THEY KIND OF EXPECTED THIS BECAUSE THIS WAS THE SENTENCE THEIR ATTORNEYS RECOMMENDED. THEY EVEN WORKED WITH THE ATTORNEYS TO COME UP WITH THE SENTENCE, BUT IT STILL DIDN'T MAKE THE DAY ANY EASIER. I'M RELIEVED. IT'S JUST HARD. MIXED EMOTIONS FROM FELICIA JACKSON AFTER THE MAN WHO PLED GUILTY TO KILLING HER DAUGHTER IS SENTENCED. A JUDGE ORDERED HIM TO SPEND 12 YEARS IN PRISON AND THREE YEARS ON PROBATION AND A PERMANENT DRIVER'S LICENSE REVOCATION. WE'RE GLAD. WE'RE DEALING WITH SO MUCH. IT HURTS SO MUCH. IT'S BEEN MORE THAN A YEAR SINCE THE SUSPECT CRASHED HIS VAN INTO THE BEDROOM WHERE HER DAUGHTER SLEPT. THEY WERE BOTH AT HOME AND RAN TO HELP THE 17-YEAR-OLD WOLFSON HIGH SCHOOL HONOR STUDENT, BUT SHE SAYS THE CLOSURE IS GOOD BUT DOESN'T BRING BACK HER DAUGHTER. YOU TRY TO WAKE UP AND THINK YOU'LL BE BETTER BUT IT DOESN'T SEEM TO GET ANY BETTER. WHEN SENTENCING HIM, THE JUDGE TOOK INTO ACCOUNT THAT HE HAD MARIJUANA AND XANAX IN HIS SYSTEM. JOEL JACKSON HOPES THE SENTENCE WILL SEND A MESSAGE TO DRIVERS. WE DEFINITELY HAVE TO BE MINDFUL OF WHAT WE DO, HOW WE'RE PHYSICALLY CAPABLE AS FAR AS DRIVING A MOTOR VEHICLE AND WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT OUR ACTIONS. DOZENS OF FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS JOINED THEM IN THE COURTROOM, A SUPPORT SYSTEM THE FAMILY SAYS IS HELPING THEM MAKE IT THROUGH THEIR DAUGHTER'S DEATH. MAINLY IT'S THEIR FAITH THEY SAY IN GOD'S PROMISES THAT WILL HELP THEM MOVE FORWARD WITHOUT JANAY. THAT'S HOW WE KEEP GOING. WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING HER IN A NEW WORLD, BEING RESURRECTED AND ENJOYING HER AS WE DID, EVEN IN A BETTER STATE. THE MAXIMUM SENTENCE WOULD HAVE BEEN 15 YEARS. THE STATE RECOMMENDED 12 BECAUSE HE HAD NO PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY AND BECAUSE THE FAMILY SAID THEY JUST WANTED TO MOVE FORWARD. WHAT ABOUT HIS FAMILY, WERE THEY IN THE COURT FOR THIS SENTENCING HEARING? WELL, I SAW AT LEAST ONE MEMBER OF HIS FAMILY, A YOUNG MAN THERE. I TRIED TO SPEAK WITH HIM AFTER SENTENCE WAS READ.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -

Duval County Circuit Judge Suzanne Bass sentenced the man who pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in last year's death of a Wolfson High School student to 12 years in prison and three years supervised probation as a drug offender.

Ismet Sijamhodzic, 52, ran a stop sign at the intersection of Kennerly and Barnes Roads early the morning of Aug. 28, 2012. His van left the road and crashed into the bedroom where 17-year-old JaNay Jackson was sleeping. She died at the scene.

Prosecutors say the 52-year-old had marijuana and Xanax in his system when he crashed his van into house.

The maximum sentence for second-degree vehicular homicide was 15 years, but the state said it recommended 12 because Sijamhodzic had no prior criminal history and the family just wanted to move forward.

"The sentencing is what we agreed upon, and I guess, in that sense, (I'm) satisfied," said the victim's father, Gerald Jackson. "But at the same time it does nothing. JaNay is still gone."

"I'm just glad that it's over," said Felicia Jackson, JaNay's mother. "I'm glad I don't have to come back and deal with this any longer because we're dealing with so much. It hurts so much."

In last month's sentencing hearing, the defense called a psychologist and clinical social worker who said Sijamhodzic suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from time spent in a prison camp during the Bosnian war in 1994.

Customers at the convenience store Sijamhodzic manages testified that he is a kind, helpful and generous man.

His oldest son told the court his father hasn't been the same since the crash; that he's depressed, cries often and wishes he died instead of Jackson.

Sijamhodzic also took the stand and apologized to the Jackson family at that October hearing.

Sijamhodzic admitted paying $50 to his 18-year-old niece for a Xanax pill, which he thought was a pain pill. He also said he did not remember crashing into a car before hitting the Jackson home and to eating pizza in Jackson's bedroom while rescue crews were trying to remove her from between his van and the wall.

Prosecutors also presented victim impact statements at that late-October hearing, including testimony from Jackson's second-grade teacher who described her as a beautiful girl with a bright future.

"I guess because you can't close off that part of your life as much as you try, you try to think that every day you wake up that you'll be better, and it just don't seem to get any better," Felicia Jackson said.

Gerald Jackson said he hopes the sentence will send a message to drivers.

"We definitely have to be mindful of what we do, how we're physically capable as far as driving a motor vehicle or doing anything else," he said. "We have to be responsible and we have to think about our actions."

Dozens of friends and family members joined JaNay's parents in the courtroom, a support system the family says helped them make it through their daughter's death.

But mainly it's their faith, they say, and God's promises that will help them move forward without their daughter.

"That's where, how we keep going," Gerald said. "We look forward to seeing her in a new world being resurrected and being able to enjoy her as we did and even in a better state."

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